The band grew out of an earlier skiffle group formed by McNally, with his friends Brian Dolan (guitar) and Tony West (bass). When the other two members lost interst McNally was joined by his guitarist neighbour Mike Prendergast. They soon recruited Tony Jackson with his home-made bass guitar and amplifier and styled themselves Tony and the Searchers with Joe Kelly on drums. Kelly soon left to be replaced by Norman McGarry and it is this line-up—McNally, Pender (as he soon became known), Jackson and McGarry—that is usually cited as the original foursome.
McGarry did not stay long, however, and in 1960 his place was taken by Chris Crummey (who later changed his name to Curtis). Later that year Big Ron had a successful audition with Mecca and became a ballroom singer. He was replaced by Billy Beck, who changed his name to Johnny Sandon. The band had regular bookings at Liverpool's Iron Door Club as Johnny Sandon and the Searchers.
Sandon left the band in late 1961 to join The Remo Four in February 1962. The group settled into a quartet sharing the vocal lead and billed simply as The Searchers. They continued to play at the Iron Door, The Cavern, and other Liverpool clubs. Like many similar acts they would do as many as three shows at different venues in one night. They negotiated a contract with the Star-Club in the St. Pauli district Hamburg for 128 days, with three one-hour performances a night, starting in July 1962.
The band returned to a residence, at the Iron Door Club and it was there that they tape recorded the sessions that led to a recording contract with Pye Records with Tony Hatch as producer.
Hatch played piano on some recordings and wrote "Sugar and Spice"—the band’s second number one record—under the pseudonym Fred Nightingale; a secret he kept from the band at the time.
After scoring their monumental hit "Needles and Pins", bassist Tony Jackson went solo and was replaced by Hamburg pal Frank Allen of Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.
Chris Curtis left the band in 1966 and was replaced by the Needles and Pins-influenced John Blunt, who in turn was replaced by Billy Adamson in 1970.
As musical styles evolved, the Searchers could not keep up and as a result, the hits ran out and while they continued to record for Liberty Records and RCA Records, ended up on the British "Chicken in a Basket" circuit although they did score a minor US hit in 1971 with "Desdemona".
The group continued to tour through the 1970s and were rewarded in 1979 when Sire Records signed the band to a multi-record deal. Two albums were released by them, The Searchers and Play for Today (retitled Love's Melodies outside the UK). Both records garnered great critical acclaim but did not break into the charts. They did however revitalize the group's career. According to John McNally, the band were ready to head into the studio to record a third album for Sire when they were informed that due to label reorganization, their contract had been dropped.
In 1981, the band signed to PRT Records (formerly Pye, their original label) and began recording an album but only one single, "I Don't Want To Be The One" backed with "Hollywood", saw the light of day at that time. The rest of the tracks would be released as part of 2004's 40th Anniversary collection.
Soon after the PRT release, Mike Pender left the group amidst great acrimony and now tours as Hollywood. McNally and Allan recruited former First Class vocalist Spencer James to fill Pender's shoes.
In 1988, Coconut Records signed The Searchers and the album Hungry Hearts was the result. A very contemporary sounding release, it featured modern sounding remakes of "Needles and Pins" and "Sweets For My Sweets". While the album was not a major hit, it did keep the group in the public eye.
The band continues to tour with Eddie Rothe replacing Adamson on drums and is considered to be one of the most popular 1960s bands on the UK concert circuit.
for more info see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Searchers_%28band%29
This Empty Place
The Searchers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I'm walkin' down the street
That's the place where you used to walk
The place where you held my hand
Now I reach and all I touch is space
An empty, empty place
Sadness and tears, that's all you left me
Of a love that once was, oh, so very great
The greatest love
Reaching all the way to the stars above
And now there's not a star left in the sky
And if you don't come back to me I'll die
Only your embrace
Can fill this empty place
If I don't fill this emptiness
I know that I'll lose my mind
Looking out and only seeing space
An empty, empty place
Oh, sadness and tears, that's all you left me
They're such bad, bad souvenirs
Of a love that once was, oh, so very great
The greatest love
Reaching all the way to the stars above
But now there's not a star left in the sky
And if you don't come back to me I'll die
Only your embrace
Can fill this empty place
Come back, come back, come back to me
Come back and fill my empty arms
I need your lovin' darling
Your lips are lovin' darling
The Searchers' song "This Empty Place," paints a picture of loneliness and longing for lost love. The lyrics describe a physical emptiness that is felt in the absence of a loved one. The singer notes the empty place beside them when walking down the street, a place where their lover once held their hand. The emptiness is palpable, and they can only touch space where their lover once was. This imagery creates a sense of vacancy and emphasizes the regret that the singer feels for the love they have lost.
The sadness that the singer feels is compounded by the bad souvenirs they've been left with – tears that they can't seem to shake. They mourn a love that once was great and reached all the way to the stars above. The metaphorical loss of the stars in the sky serves to emphasize the depth of feeling that has been taken from the singer. Without their lover's embrace, the emptiness they feel is too much to bear.
The refrain of the song has a pleading tone, as the singer implores their lost love to come back to them. They can't imagine living in a world where the emptiness remains, and they will lose their mind if they can't fill the void. In the end, only their lover's embrace can fill that empty place. The theme of loss and longing is timeless, and the poignant lyrics of "This Empty Place" are a classic representation of a broken-hearted ballad.
Line by Line Meaning
There's an empty place beside me
I feel an immense emptiness as I walk down the street, by the side of where you used to be.
When I'm walkin' down the street
As I stroll around outside.
That's the place where you used to walk
You were the one walking beside me.
The place where you held my hand
You held my hand tight, and there was no place I'd rather be.
Now I reach and all I touch is space
When I try to touch you, I'm left touching nothingness.
An empty, empty place
I can feel the void in my heart and in my life.
Sadness and tears, that's all you left me
You're gone, leaving behind a trail of tears and heartache.
They're such bad souvenirs
The memories of how wonderful things were between us are now replaced with sorrow.
Of a love that once was, oh, so very great
Our love used to be so amazing and fantastic, but it is now lost.
The greatest love
There has never been a love quite like ours.
Reaching all the way to the stars above
Our love was so powerful that it reached even the stars in the sky.
And now there's not a star left in the sky
Everything that made me happy is now gone.
And if you don't come back to me I'll die
I need you back, or I won't be able to go on living.
Only your embrace
I can only feel complete if I can be embraced by you.
Can fill this empty place
The only thing that can make the feeling of emptiness go away is your love.
If I don't fill this emptiness
If I don't rid myself of this feeling of emptiness.
I know that I'll lose my mind
I'll go crazy without you.
Looking out and only seeing space
I look out into the world and all I see is nothingness.
Oh, sadness and tears, that's all you left me
All that's left in me now is utter sadness and heartbreak.
They're such bad, bad souvenirs
The memories of us being together now just cause me heartache.
Come back, come back, come back to me
I desperately need you to come back to me.
Come back and fill my empty arms
I need you to hold me tight and make me feel complete again.
I need your lovin' darling
The only thing that can make me feel better is your love.
Your lips are lovin' darling
Your kisses are what I crave and what I need.
Contributed by Lillian O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Javier Bermúdez Méndez
There's an empty place beside me
When I'm walkin' down the street
That's the place where you used to walk
The place where you held my hand
Now I reach and all I touch is space
An empty, empty place
Sadness and tears, that's all you left me
They're such bad souvenirs
Of a love that once was, oh, so great dear
The greatest love
Reaching all the way to the stars above
And now there's not a star left in the sky
And if you don't come back to me I'll die
Only your embrace
Can fill this empty space
Looking out and only seeing space
An empty, empty place
Oh, sadness and tears, that's all you left me
They're such bad, bad souvenirs
Of a love that once was, oh, so great dear
The greatest love
Reaching all the way to the stars above
But now there's not a star left in the sky
And if you don't come back to me I'll die
Only your embrace
Can fill this empty space.
Javier Bermúdez Méndez
There's an empty place beside me
When I'm walkin' down the street
That's the place where you used to walk
The place where you held my hand
Now I reach and all I touch is space
An empty, empty place
Sadness and tears, that's all you left me
They're such bad souvenirs
Of a love that once was, oh, so great dear
The greatest love
Reaching all the way to the stars above
And now there's not a star left in the sky
And if you don't come back to me I'll die
Only your embrace
Can fill this empty space
Looking out and only seeing space
An empty, empty place
Oh, sadness and tears, that's all you left me
They're such bad, bad souvenirs
Of a love that once was, oh, so great dear
The greatest love
Reaching all the way to the stars above
But now there's not a star left in the sky
And if you don't come back to me I'll die
Only your embrace
Can fill this empty space.
3LittleBiggs
Just re-visiting one of my favorite tunes lead vocal by the late, great Chris Curtis. He was a master at changing octaves. I'm running this as lead video on my CCF channel! Thank you, KT for the upload!
Bill Herald
A great song, to be sure. And in fact, I consider Dionne Warwick's version of it to be the VERY BEST song she ever recorded.
3LittleBiggs
This will always be my fave Searchers song, since Chris, singing it, had the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. RIP Chris. Thanks, ktoop, for posting it and keeping Chris talent alive!
Cherix Biggs
Chris Curtis...lead on lead....beautiful!!! RIP. 😢
Cherix Biggs
Nobody will ever be as great as Chris Curtis! He could do everything! RIP dear Chris....❤️ Cheri B.
Ingvar Kristensen
Chris Curtis R.I.P Great vocals!
Cherix Biggs
Ingvar Kristensen Thank you!!! I loved Chris too! He was a genius. RIP Chris. ❤️❤️ Cheri B.
Hugh Cole
love the searchers version in my eyes they could do no wrong
Allen Nelson
This is a great song. Surprised it was not a hit.